Incendiary material



United States Patent Ofifice 3,126,259 Patented Mar. 24, 1964 3,126,259 INCENDIARY MATERIAL Frank N. Vannucci, 168 Shotwell St, San Francisco, Calif. No Drawing. Filed Nov. 6, 1959, Ser. No. 851,228

6 Claims. (CL 44-+7) The present invention relates to improvements in an incendiary material, and more particularly to a solidified inflammable hydrocarbon and the method of producing the same.

Materials for starting or maintaining fires generally have been unsatisfactory due to their liquid state, high cost, or undesirable combustion characteristics.

Liquid hydrocarbons such as gasoline, kerosene, and other of the lighter fractional distillates are probably the most inexpensive, but their liquid nature makes them diflicult to use in certain situations due to a propensity to flow away. Storage and handling is also a problem because of their tendency to vaporize and form explosive gaseous mixtures, and high costs reflect the greater difficulty and expense of providing leakproof containers.

Naturally occurring solid materials have proven unsatisfactory for incendiary purposes because of the difficulty of igniting them and their slow burning rate.

A number of incendiary materials have been developed which are solid in nature and possess good to excellent burning characteristics. Among these are the thermite compounds in which oxides of iron give up their oxygen to finely divided aluminum in a reaction which produces great amounts of heat. The main objections to the thermite material are the difficulty of igniting the reaction, the cost of preparation, and the metallic slag which is left behind.

Another Well-known incendiary material is metallic magnesium which is easily ignited, will burn fiercely in the air, and leaves only a small deposit of magnesium oxide. But the cost of metallic magnesium and the difficulty of preventing premature ignition preclude its use in many applications.

The present invention contemplates an incendiary material which uses inflammable liquid hydrocarbons combined with water and a jelling agent into a gelatinous mass which is easy to handle and transport and which exhibits desirable incendiary characteristics.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a material containing an inflammable liquid hydrocarbon in a solid gelatinous state suitable for incendiary uses.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a solid, gelatinous incendiary material having novel burning characteristics occasioned by the presence of water in intimate association therewith.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an incendiary material of the nature described which may be readily ignited and which will burn with an extremely hot flame for a considerable period of time.

It is still further proposed to provide an incendiary material of the character described which is inexpensive to produce and which is stable in its solid form so as to reduce shipping and storage costs.

And finally, it is proposed to provide a simple and inexpensive process for producing the solidified incendiary material which does not require elaborate and expensive machinery or equipment.

Further objects and features of advantage of my invention will become apparent from the review of the following description, and the new and useful features of the same will be fully defined in the claims hereto attached.

In its broadest scope, the invention is concerned with the preparation of a semi-solid, gelatinous material which includes an inflammable liquid hydrocarbon held in inti- 4 mate association with water in a gel composed of readily obtainable metallic oxides.

I have found that a mixture of silicon dioxide and magnesium oxide will, under certain conditions, take up considerable amounts of gasoline, or similar hydrocarbons, and water to produce a sticky, jelly-like material eminently suited for incendiary uses. The silicon and magnesium oxides may be in the form of serpentine or they may be in the uncombined form of silica and magnesium oxide, which have been ground and mixed in equal quantities, and then admixed With water and an inflammable liquid hydrocarbon to form a gelatinous mass. Alternatively it may comprise about three parts silica to about three parts magnesium oxide and one part ferric oxide admixed with Water and an inflammable liquid hydrocarbon to form a gelatinous mass.

Among the uses to which the present material may be put are the burning of weeds and other inflammable or semi-inflammable debris such as garbage, the ignition of coal or other fuels which do not readily take fire, the use of the material as a hot, smokeless fuel, and the like. Other uses than the ones enumerated may be found for the present material, such as, but not limited to, incendiary shells, bombs and flame throwing devices.

To prepare the incendiary material of the present invention, a powdered or finely granulated mixture of metallic oxides is mixed with suflicient water to form a paste. This paste should be of medium consistency, neither watery nor too stilf to be easily worked.

The metallic oxides used consist principally of silicon oxide and magnesium dioxide in about equal proportions. Under certain conditions, enhanced burning characteristics may be obtained by the addition of a small amount of ferric oxide.

I have found that the desired proportions of the various oxides may be found in certain natural deposits of the mineral known as serpentine rock. The analysis of a typical serpentine deposit indicates it consists of:

Percent Silica 38.34 Magnesium oxide 35.02 Ferric oxide 11.22 Calcium oxide 0.48 Aluminum oxide 0.42 H O (water of crystallization) 13.55

The silica and the magnesium oxide separately do not appear to produce the results obtained by the use of both. The action of the ferric oxide in aiding the taking up of water by the gelatinous mass is not clear, but more water appears to be present.

It has been found that the water contained in the incendiary material promotes certain types of burning, such as the burning of weeds. The material burns with a popping and cracking action, and it is thought that the vaporization of the water intensifies the incendiary action. At any rate, the diflerence in action between the water-loaded material of the present invention and the water-free hydrocarbons is clearly evident.

No appreciable difference in burning action has been noted by reason of the presence of trace amounts of aluminum oxide and calcium oxide, the amount listed apparently being too small to significantly aifect the action.

After the oxide paste is formed, an inflammable liquid hydrocarbon is added to the vessel. For most incendiary purposes, the hydrocarbon will be chosen from the most volatile and fast burning fractions such as gasoline or kerosene. Should a slower and longer burning material be desired, hydrocarbons such as diesel or fuel oil may be used.

The liquid hydrocarbon is admixed with the paste until no more hydrocarbon is readily absorbed. The amount of liquid hydrocarbon which the paste will take up varies somewhat, but the proportions will usually be about one part of hydrocarbon to about two parts of the paste.

Excess water is then added to the vessel on top of the paste-liquid hydrocarbon mixture. Upon vigorous stirring, the finished incendiary material will rise to the surface of the water in the form of a sticky, gelatinous mass. This mass is then removed from the Water, as by skimming, and packaged.

As the incendiary material rises to the surface of the water, it will be found that much of the metallic oxide material will sink to the bottom. This may be dried out to a paste-like consistency and used again as a starting material.

The foregoing process will function in the described manner with almost all of the readily inflammable liquid hydrocarbons. Crude oil, however, reacts somewhat differently. Upon the addition'of excess water, and stirring, the crude oil does not jell, but forms a gummy solid which sinks to the bottom of the vessel. This material can be used as a fuel, but, due to the water contained in the mass, it tends to burn erratically with much spitting and sparking. The material is also rather diflicult to ignite, and therefore, is not very efiicient for use as an incendiary.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided an improved, low cost incendiary material, and an inexpensive method of producing such material which requires no elaborate or costly machinery. The intimate association of the water and the inflammable material, in a sticky gel, provides a burning action well adapted for the stated, incendiary purposes.

I claim:

1. The process for producing a gelatinous incendiary material which consists of placing a powdered material composed of about equal parts of silicon dioxide and magnesium oxide in a vessel, adding about an equal quantity by measure of water to form a paste, admixing about one part of an inflammable liquid hydrocarbon to every two parts of said paste until all free hydrocarbon is taken up, pouring excess water into said vessel over the mixture, stirring until a gelatinous mass of hydrocarbon and water saturated oxides rise to the surface, and removing said mass from said vessel.

2. The process as described in claim 1 and wherein said powdered material consists of about three parts of silicon dioxide to about three parts of magnesium oxide and about one part of ferric oxide.

3. The process for producing a gelatinous incendiary material which consists of grinding serpentine rock to produce a powder containing about three parts of silicon oxide to about three parts of magnesium oxide and one part of ferric oxide, placing said powder in a vessel with suflicient water to form a paste, intimately mixing into the paste about one part of an inflammable liquid hydrocarbon to every two parts of said paste, adding excess water to said vessel, stirring until a gelatinous mass of hydrocarbon and water saturated oxides rise to the surface, and removing said mass from said vessel.

4. An incendiary material consisting essentially of a gel of an inflammable liquid hydrocarbon and a water wetted powder composed of equal parts of silica and magnesium oxide, the relative proportions of said oxides, water and hydrocarbon being the amount of water wetted oxide powder retained by the hydrocarbon when a mixture of about one part of hydrocarbon to two parts of oxide material is agitated in an excess of water.

5. An incendiary material consisting essentially of a gel of an inflammable liquid hydrocarbon and a water wetted powder and composed of silica, magnesium oxide and ferric oxide in the proportions of about 3:321 respectively, the relative proportions of oxides, water and hydrocarbon being the amount of water wetted oxide powder retained by the hydrocarbon when a mixture of about one part of hydrocarbon to two parts of oxide material is agitated in an excess of water.

6. An incendiary material consisting essentially of a gel of an inflammable liquid hydrocarbon and a Water wetted paste of ground serpentine, the relative proportions of serpentine, water and hydrocarbon being the amount of water wetted serpentine powder retained by the hydrocarbon when a mixture of one part of hydrocarbon to two parts of serpentine is agitated in an excess of water.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,523,580 Calvert Jan. 20, 1925 2,260,625 Kistler Oct. 28, 1941 2,268,234 Adams et al Dec. 30, 1941 2,377,841 Marshall June 5, 1945 2,902,351 Stokes Sept. 1, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,857 Great Britain Oct. 24, 1907 12,342 Great Britain May 12, 1900 

4. AN INCENDIARY MATERIAL CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A GEL OF AN INFLAMMABLE LIQUID HYDROCARBON AND A WATER WETTED POWDER COMPOSED OF EQUAL PARTS OF SILICA AND MAGNESIUM OXIDE, THE RELATIVE PROPORTIONS OF SID OXIDES, WATER AND HYDROCARBON BEING THE AMOUNT OF WATER WETTED OXIDE POWDER RETAINED BY THE HYDROCARBON WHEN A MIXTURE OF ABOUT ONE PART OF HYDROCARBON TO TWO PARTS OF OXIDE MATERIAL IS AGITATED IN AN EXCESS OF WATER. 